


The Hazards of Irresponsible Time Travel

by dancesontrains



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Angst, M/M, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-25
Updated: 2016-04-25
Packaged: 2018-06-04 12:10:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,183
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6657208
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dancesontrains/pseuds/dancesontrains
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Barry paused for a moment to look at the disordered scene in Harrison Wells's office. Clothes were spread all around the floor, and both Dr. Wells and Barry's - doppelganger? fake? - were lying on the black couch. Naked, with the fake Flash on top of Dr. Wells.  Barry quickly turned his eyes away, feeling the blush grow on his face. <i>What on Earth...?</i></p>
<p>(2x17 response fic. Does not take into account canon from later episodes.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Hazards of Irresponsible Time Travel

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into 中文 available: [The Hazards of Irresponsible Time Travel 不負責任穿越時空的風險](https://archiveofourown.org/works/8118052) by [jls20011425](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jls20011425/pseuds/jls20011425)



"Dr. Wells, where... _Doctor Wells_?!"

Barry paused for a moment to look at the disordered scene in Harrison Wells's office. Clothes were spread all around the floor, and both Dr. Wells and Barry's - doppelganger? fake? - were lying on the black couch. Naked, with the fake Flash on top of Dr. Wells. Barry quickly turned his eyes away, feeling the blush grow on his face. _What on Earth...?_

Barry's dupe had leapt up from his position and sped into his own uniform, leaving Dr. Wells lying on the couch covering his privates with one hand. 

Dr. Wells used his other arm and the couch seating to push himself up. Barry couldn't help noticing that he was _jacked_ , and holy cow that was not helping. "Ah, Barry! We ...weren't expecting you." 

"I didn't think so," Barry all but squeaked while still staring at the mess on the floor. He then noticed a pair of black boxer shorts, and turned away. The wheelchair sat abandoned in one corner; he carefully focused on that instead of either the clothes on the floor or the naked man on the couch. The wheelchair was safe to look at.

"I should introduce you two," Dr. Wells dryly continued. "Barry, meet your future self." He saw the other Flash raise a hand in greeting from the corner of his eye, while Barry started to splutter. "Do try not to talk about future events?" he said with a pointed look at the other Flash.

The other Flash (Flash Two? Future Flash? He liked that one.) began to slowly gather up Dr. Wells's clothes in one arm, dumping them on the couch next to him and turning away until Dr. Wells asked him for help getting dressed. "I can't exactly get up, can I?"

"Ok, I'm not going to... I'm going to go stand outside and try to deal with ...everything."

Barry heard sounds of speed from inside the room and assumed Future Flash was helping Dr. Wells get dressed. He pulled the cowl off his head, running his fingers through his hair. His mind was spinning between 'I can time travel???' and 'I slept - will sleep with - Dr. Wells?' Both the thoughts were circling around and around in his brain, giving him a headache. 

The future Flash appeared through the doorway, with Dr. Wells (now thankfully fully dressed, if a little rumpled) wheeling out behind him. 

"Let's go talk to the others."

***

After both the time wraith and Future Flash had sped back to their time (time travel, he could _time travel by running really fast_ , how cool was that? ...he should have asked himself who was going to win the NBA that year, but they had had no spare moments and he supposed Dr. Wells would have stopped that.), he saw Dr. Wells wheeling away, and jogged to catch up with him.

"Dr.Wells! I had something to ask you."

The other man paused his wheelchair with a slight smile. "Please, call me Harrison, you might as well now. You know I can't answer about anything that your future self told me - it might-"

"Break the timeline, yes I gathered." Barry smiled nervously before plowing forward with his question.

"Was -" Barry swallowed, unable to believe that he was asking this. "Was I - future me - any good?"

Harrison's smile grew, his glasses glinting in the hallway light.

***

Several weeks later Barry and Harrison were kissing in Harrison's office, with Barry squashed on the other man's wheelchair, his arms around Harrison's neck and Harrison holding him by the waist. Barry liked it there - it felt more private than most other parts of STAR labs, and Harrison had outright refused to attempt to fit his wheelchair through the doors of any of the closets. And it felt like _Harrison_ 's place. Barry smiled into the kiss, mentally thanking his future self for giving him the idea. He felt Harrison's hand inch up his side. 

"Dr. Wells, I have those lab results you wanted... Oh!"

Barry sped off Harrison's wheelchair and turned to face Caitlin, who was standing in the doorway holding a sheaf of papers and with her mouth falling open. 

"I...well." Caitlin said, before walking forward to hand her papers to Harrison, the mask of blank professionalism quickly falling over her face. 

Barry grinned at her a little sheepishly; she smiled back, muttered an excuse Barry couldn't even hear and walked off, her high heels still audible from a distance. Barry wondered how he missed the sounds of her arrival. 

"You know she's going to tell Cisco about us?" Harrison commented, glancing through the papers in front of him. 

"Let her," Barry smiled back. "I don't mind."  


***

Harrison Wells was the Man in Yellow, and it felt like his entire world was about to fall apart. How could that future self of his _do_ that? Especially as he had almost definitely known who Wells was - what he had done. What had been a happy memory of his future self getting laid, often thought about in private, was now tainted forever. 

Barry obsessively went through what he remembered about the time he caught Future Flash and Wells together. The oddness in their interactions that he had ignored, or brushed off as an odd quirk, now made more sense; no wonder Future Flash had seemed unwilling to help Wells with his clothes, and those strange looks at each other were from people who knew Wells's secret.

Then _why_? His mind circled around the question again and again, poking at it. Why sleep with his mother's murderer, of all people? Why not Cisco or someone who was actually _nice_? It was only months later, after Harrison - Eobard's - death and the Singularity that Barry finally understood. Barry still missed Harrison just one month after his death, even knowing what he did. After several months away, that version of himself must have been drawn inescapably in.

Earth-2 Harrison Wells was a good man. Well, apart from the whole 'betrayal to Zoom' part, but that was kind of understandable as he was trying to make sure his daughter was safe. Barry had hoped he would be a replacement for the original version, and even tried hitting on him, but was turned down. 

Eventually, it was time to travel back in time to learn how to defeat Zoom (Jay Garrick? Why did this always happen to him? And poor Caitlin, thinking her boyfriend was dead but now realizing he was evil all along. He could empathize.)

It was difficult to not just jump on Harrison/Eobard from the first time they met again. He felt a strong sense of conviction as he called Eobard by his real name and they kissed inside the time vault, with Barry still handcuffed to the wheelchair. He persuaded Eobard to move them to his office, knowing what had to happen, and almost lost himself in enjoying the moment. 

After they were done, he relaxed for a moment. Barry had missed this, _them_ , so much. 

And then he heard his own younger version's voice as if from a distance. 

"Dr. Wells, where... _Doctor Wells_?!"

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks go to [Preussich_blau](http://archiveofourown.org/users/preussisch_blau) and [Lonelywalker](http://archiveofourown.org/users/lonelywalker/pseuds/lonelywalker) for betaing, and Budgie (no AO3) for the title. I'm over at [fastestcatalive](http://www.tumblr.com/fastestcatalive) on Tumblr, feel free to come and say hi.


End file.
